Dogen Sangha Blog

Master Gudo Nishijima has been practicing Buddhism for more than sixty years.
He was a student of Master Kodo Sawaki, an itinerant priest famous
for his efforts to restore Zazen to its rightful place at the center
of Buddhism. Master Nishijima was ordained as a priest by the
late Master Rempo Niwa, formerly head of the Soto Sect,
and has written many books on Buddhism
in both Japanese and in English.
For over twenty years, he has been
giving instructions on Zazen and lectures in English.
See here for details.

◊ ANNOUNCEMENTto Dogen Sangha members:
From now on only master Nishijima will be able to post blog entries, but you may still leave comments.
Registration with this blog is no longer necessary, but you must have a Blogger, Google, or OpenID account to
post comments. Anonymous comments are not allowed.
Thank you,
Dogen Sangha Blog Administration (info.nishijima@mac.com).

Friday, April 30, 2010

The two commens by Ven. silentbell San

I have received two comments from Ven. silentbell San on my Dogen Sangha Blog of 10/04/28 and 10/04/29, but I have lost a chance to express my answer to those questions on my Blog.

Therefore if it were permissible for me to express my opinion, it might be as follows.

Ven. silentbell San's comments

Dear Roshi, (silentbell) 10/04/30

What if a person practices shikantaza, and practices shikantaza, and then keeps practicing shikantaza, and NEVER arrives at a balanced states? Is this possible? Do we judge the balanced state by the stillness of our minds during zazen?Thank you very much.

Gudo's Answer : When we practice Zazen everyday, it is perfectly impossible for us not to enter into the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system. The state in Zazen, can never be consideration or perception, but it is just Action. This interpretation can never be found in the Euro-American Civilizations, but in Indian Buddhist Philosophy, Action has completely independent entity from consideration or perception. This fundamental characteristic of Indian Buddhist Philosophy is enormously clear, and so we can insist that the fundamental philosophical system of Indian Buddhism does not have any separation between body and mind.

Ven. silentbell San's comment 10/04/29

What if a person practices shkantaza, and keeps practicing shikantazo still, and never reaches a balanced state? Does the balanced state depend upon the stillness of our minds?

Gudo's Answer : When we practice Zazen everyday, we can enter into the state of the balanced autonomic nervous system, and it is impossible for us to leave our balanced autonomic nervous system at all. Of course, if we contine our consideration or perception even in Zazen, it is impossible for us to leave from the consideration or perception, and so if we want to leave from consideration or perception in Zazen, it is necessary for us to stop consideration or perception actually, and if we want to stop consideration or perception in Zazn, we should do it exactly. Of course it is very common for us to consider or perceive even in Zazen, but such kinds of consideration or perception, can never be Zazen. Therefore if we want to practice the True Zazen exactly, we should do it directly. Zazen can never be consideration or perception, but Zazen is just Action itself. Therefore when we want to practice Zazen, it is necessary for us to practice Zazen itself. In other words, when we are practicing Zazen, we should stop consideration and perception, and we should be so careful for us to be exact in following the authentic posture following 'Fukan-Zazen-Gi' by Master Dogen.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dear Ven. Harry San and Dear Ven. Wooci San.

Dear Ven. Harry San and Dear Ven. Woochi San,

Because of my poor ability for computer, I have lost your each comment from my computer, but fortunately I have left the copies of your comments, and so I would like to send my each answer to you again.

Ven. Harry San's question,

"Dear Sensei,

Thank-you for the message about zazen.

At the zazen group I attend, someone asked the question 'Why do you zazen?'

The most honest answer to this question I could think of is simply because I have trained myself to do zazen like a habit. I had no other more impressive or complicated aswer to the question. I find this answer a bit strange, and I think other people do also, but I can't really think of a more direct and true answer at the moment.

How would you answer the questin 'Why do you do zazen?

Thanks and Regards,

Harry."

Gudo's answer : When I was asked from someone 'Why do you do zazen?", I usually answer that I always practice Zazen everyday, because of keeping my autonomic nervous system should be balanced everyday.

Ven. Woochi San's question,

" Master Nishijima,

I was very moved about how you said, "It is not to necessary for us to get the so-called enlightenment. Because the so-called enlightenment is just a Romantic story, which many children love."

The goal of the practice of zazen and Buddhism to just simply be, right?

Also, it troubles me that there are sects of Buddhism that believe in a 'god', that they will become god once enlightened, and other mystical beliefs. What attitude should I take towards this?

Guudo's Answer : The true enlightenment can never be any kind of sudden change, which many ignorant people might admire, but it is very quiet and balanced situations of the autonomic nervous system.

When we continue our practice of Zazen everyday, we can naturally enter into the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, and if we continue our daily practice of Zazen everyday, it is impossible for us to leave from the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system at all.

In other words, if we can keep our autonomic nervous system balanced everyday, it is impossible for us to lose the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system at all.

Therefore if we practice Zazen everday, it might be impossible for everyone to leave the state of enlghtenment at all.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Dear Ven. Al San,

Sunday, April 25, 2010

How to practice Zazen.

First of all, it is necessary for you to meet a person, who knows the method of how to practice Zazen, first.

If it is difficalt for you to meet such a person, please read my book " Wow to practice Zazen" through Amazon. Of course, in my Dogen Samgha Blog there are also so many precise teachingshaving written already, and so you can read them totally free.

Therefore it is possible for you to read my "Dogen Samgha Blog," freely, you can get so many knowledge about Buddhism and Zazen .

When we practice Zazen, it is necessary for us to practice Zazen everyday without fail. If we practice Zazen, not everyday, but only several times as we like, such kind of flimsy practice might be useless almost at all. In other words it is perfectly important for us to practice Zazen everyday as if we have to eat meals everyday.

Zazen is a kind of habit, and it is necessary for us to establish the daily habit without fail. It is not necessary for us to get the so-called enlightenment. Because the so-called enlightenment is just a Romantic story, which many children love. But Buddhism is never a Romantic story, but it is just Action. It is just sitting. It is just Practice. It is just Reality.